California Senator Drafts Bill Requiring Tethered Caps for Plastic BottlesCalifornia Senator Drafts Bill Requiring Tethered Caps for Plastic Bottles

A new California bill would require plastic bottle makers to tether caps to containers under three liters by 2027.

Senate Bill 45 echoes a 2018 EU directive to phase out loose plastic bottle caps by summer 2024. California-based CG Roxane, which makes Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water, has already launched tethered caps on its 8-ounce bottles.

Plastic beverage containers with a recycling rate over 70% can be made compliant starting in 2028.

Bill to be heard in 2025

The bill, introduced by state Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, is to be heard in the Senate next year.

"California's iconic coastline and marine ecosystems are treasured around the world," Padilla said, "but plastic caps and other litter are choking the diverse marine life we share these waters with. ...Bottle-tethering is an important tool in the fight to reduce the mountains of plastic waste polluting our beaches, rivers, and oceans."

Supporters of the bill cited the volumes of plastic container waste encountered in the state.

Most plastic caps are not recycled

"In the last year, more than 14 billion plastic beverage containers were sold in California," said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste. "And while better than 70% of the bottles were successfully recycled in the state, the majority of the 14 billion plastic caps were not."  

Related:World’s First Tethered PET Cap Already in Production

Nearly 30,000 plastic bottle caps were collected along the coast by Surfrider volunteers this year, the foundation said.

"Plastic caps are mistaken for food by sea turtles, seabirds, whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, and other creatures, and cause terrible harm in the form of internal injuries, starvation, and toxic poisoning from these plastic products," said Jennifer Savage, California policy associate director at Surfrider Foundation. "Even caps that aren't ingested hurt the marine environment by breaking down into microplastics that make their way into the food chain and change ocean habitats into an ever more plasticized version of the natural world we love and should be protecting."

The X factor

Meanwhile, on X, some folks were less impressed by the bill. "Don't get me wrong, I love me a tethered bottle cap," wrote @Jen_Saha. "But I feel like we've got bigger issues right now."

@maisum94 put it more bluntly: "There are worse things littering California: syringes, feces, trash, broken cars, inoperable RVs, drug addicts."